The Most Racist Election in Israel’s History

If Netanyahu stays, Israel will become a pariah state – so the Israeli establishment is doing everything it can to ensure that he loses. But a Gadi Eisenkot victory won’t help Palestinians either.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a campaign stop in Tel Aviv last week. Photo by Erik Marmor/Getty Images

I am sitting in a cafe in Jerusalem’s Old City with a Palestinian friend. His phone rings. It’s a message from Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), the political party of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

A voice says “Barra Barra”, which translates as “Get out. Get out.”

Ben-Gvir is appealing to Israeli voters by calling for the disqualification of Arab politicians from standing in the Israeli elections. His entire campaign is about the dispossession and erasure of Palestinians. Naked racism, and it’s working.

One of his campaign videos celebrates the demolition of an apartment block in East Jerusalem, making 70 people homeless.

“This is what governance looks like in Jerusalem,” declares Ben-Gvir on the video. “During my tenure, we demolish and demolish and demolish again.”

He adds: “We are the masters of the house here. There is a very, very clear message here: Jerusalem is ours, the State of Israel is ours.”

This is the most racist election in Israel’s history, the nastiest and most vindictive.